


Snowdrifts

by WolvesLament



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Chase is a good person, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt and comfort, Julia is a ball of anxiety, Mutual Pining, Shadowsan is a huge dad, Someone give her a hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23756002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolvesLament/pseuds/WolvesLament
Summary: As tensions rise between Julia and ACME, she comes to a decision. But as her life, and those she loves lay on the line, will she snap? Or will she overcome the struggles that cross her path, and finally find herself from within the ice that threatens to smother her?(On hiatus for the moment)
Relationships: Julia "Jules" Argent/Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Comments: 47
Kudos: 194





	1. Subzero

**Author's Note:**

> _Don’t think I know how to do this  
>  Once I was told, but I like to fidget  
> And miss out on good advice  
> Wisdom by Mother Mother_

To say Julia was miffed was an understatement. There were not nearly enough words in both of her vocabularies to explain how upset she was. French or English didn’t matter, there were no words. The sheer amount of frustration she felt just couldn’t be explained.

Right as Zari’s communication pen hit the floor, she strode up to the hologram of The Chief, heels clacking on the hard stone of the tower. She hardly listened to the words coming from the projections mouth. Quickly interrupting the hologram, her accent bubbled up to the surface while her eyes narrowed, “If our objective was to chase Carmen Sandiego away, and squander her trust, then yes, we absolutely did.” The words tumbled out of her mouth in an instant, flowing smoothly as she got more upset. At least Agent Zari had the decency to look ashamed at what she had done, but yet the Chief still remained less than sympathetic to the words coming out of Julia’s mouth.

“We had an agreement!’ She snapped.

“Which became null and void the moment you dropped off the grid,” The Chief’s eyebrows remained raised. But yet she still didn’t listen to a word that had come out of Julia’s mouth. 

“You said you trusted me, and yet here we stand,” Julia murmured, tugging at her coat sleeves, fidgeting slightly. “Now, I fear we have lost all the trust Carmen had in us,” she paused, “ _ and in me _ ,” she added quietly, tone dull and hurt. She didn’t have time to consider how that simple statement made her heart ache. Her head snapped up in realization, “Wait! Where is she? What did you do to her?” Julia only hoped that the thief had gotten away unscathed.

Agent Zari spoke up this time scoffing, “She was hit with tranquilizer gas. But she escaped with that cursed glider of hers.” 

Julia’s eyes widened, but that could only mean she was flying on a time limit. It only took minutes for the gas to do it’s work once a target breathed it in. “ _ Oh mon dieu non.. _ ” Julia whipped over to face the other agent. She took a deep breath, holding in a wave of some less than polite words. “Which direction did she take off in?” She asked as nicely as possible, despite holding in the rage of a thousand suns. Agent Zari simply pointed off the ledge of the bell tower. From Julia’s vague sense of direction, that led directly out of the city into the wilderness. It was soon to be nighttime, and if she crashed, well god knows if she could get herself out. Especially if she was hurt. An array of horrible scenarios flashed through Julia’s head. Without a word to either of the two women, Julia propelled herself down the stairs, running as fast as she could to get out of this wretched place. She was to find Carmen as soon as possible.

Finally, out in the cold again, snow lightly falling from the sky, Julia sighed. Curse the stupid cold weather. Curse ACME and their stupidity. Julia figured she could continue on this trail for a good while, but she decided to end that train of thought early. No need focusing on the bad right now. She needed to be ready for anything. Her friend could be hurt,  _ her friend? Where did that come from?  _ She shook her head, good grief, she couldn’t even focus after she had told herself to do so. She really was a mess wasn’t she? Alright, she needed to find the ACME issued vehicle she had been lent. Travelling on foot certainly would not be of any use. With a heavy sigh she started the vehicle, and began to drive off in the direction that Agent Zari had said Carmen had gone. If only she knew the roads better. Visibility was starting to fade as the snow got thicker and thicker, and the night only would get colder from here. If Carmen wasn’t found soon, god knows what would happen to her. Julia didn’t know what she would do if she couldn’t find Carmen. Where were her allies? She knew that she had others helping her. Did they already find her? Or were they busy with whatever caper they already were working on? Briefly she wondered how far the glider could have gone. Considering the bell tower was roughly 106 meters, so she could’ve flown a large distance away. Julia had already driven a good few miles away from town, and so Carmen should be somewhere nearby. But Julia was not a mathematician, and she worried that she might be off a significant amount. 

What would she do if she ended up not spotting Carmen at all? What if someone else had found her? What if--

But a glimpse of red stuck out from within the shadowy forest. Slamming her brakes she winced at the impact. Man she was almost as bad as Devineaux, well, no she definitely wasn’t as bad as him. Honestly she didn’t even understand how it was possible for someone to be so god awful at driving. She shook her head, right. That’s not important. Carmen needed help. Opening the car door, she shivered near instantly, it was  _ freezing  _ outside. She curled herself inwards, holding onto her ACME issued parka. As she looked down the edge of the safety railing she could finally assess the damage that had occured. She let out a soft gasp, there was a mess of snapped tree branches, strewn around the cliff. There was just about no way possible that she could get down there safely, let alone help Carmen. From what she could tell, Carmen had a pretty damn rough landing, and she knew that moving someone in this condition could do serious harm. She needed help, but she didn’t know who to call. Certainly not ACME. Julia peered down at the cliff, there was no way she could do this alone. She softly moaned in distress, there must be someone she could call. Didn’t Carmen have allies that could come and find her? She checked her phone frowning as she looked at how the temperature had dropped. She was freezing already, and Carmen had been here for likely a good few hours at this point. Julia hadn’t the slightest clue how long it had actually taken her to find Carmen. She guessed around an hour or so? That was certainly long enough for hypothermia to set in. 

There wasn’t a good slope for her to climb up and down safely so she tried to think. How could she do this? She couldn’t. This was her fault. Carmen was hurt. She could even be dying at this point, and with crushing realization, Juila realized she likely already was. With a gasp, the young agent realized she was crying. Gently, she touched her face, already the tears stuck to her lashes. She shuddered, god it was so cold. She checked her phone again, hands trembling slightly, before she carefully found the person she was looking for, shaking, she hit call. They picked up on the second ring, though it took a good while for the call to patch through.

“Julia, is that you?”

“Chase, Chase  _ please. _ I need your help. I- I’m a good few miles away from Stockholm, and I- I can’t do this alone. She’s dying and it’s my fault. Please hurry, I sent you directions. Just promise me, promise me!” Julia pleaded, “Promise me that you’ll not be upset when you get here.”

There was a pause on the phone, and Julia was terrified for a second that the connection had finally given out, but a few seconds later she heard a quiet reply.

“I’m on my way. I trust you. Hold tight.”

Julia breathed a sigh of relief, for now all she could do was wait for her old partner, and pray that he would get here soon enough to save Carmen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you made it this far I just wanted to thank you so much for reading! This is my first fanfiction ever and it’s just been so exciting to write. I’ve been reading fanfiction for years and only now have I gotten the courage to post something! I hope you enjoyed and hopefully the next chapter will come out soon! I would love any feedback and if there are any grammar errors I missed while editing please let me know! <3


	2. Frozen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _You have habits just like me  
>  Talk too much to strangers  
> Get way too serious around family  
> And I don’t have any wishes  
> Wishes, Grant & McCall_

As Julia waited for Devineaux to arrive, she frowned, trying to concoct a plan to aid Carmen. But distracted, as per usual, she pondered just how the day had ended up like this. It was going so well. But then the day quite literally went from good to bad in an instant. It seemed Julia’s life had the consistency of the weather at sea. Constantly everchanging, she supposed she’d never get a break. ACME had begun to stretch her thinner and thinner as the weeks wore on. It wasn’t like she was the only agent there, but boy did it feel like it some days. No matter how hard she worked to be heard she was simply ignored. It was like everyone was looking in the opposite direction of logic and fact. Nearly everything made perfect sense to her, and it took ACME how long to recognize that she was right? She scoffed, it didn’t matter what they thought was right or wrong about her theories, it wouldn’t matter because now Carmen would never trust her again. Maybe she’d be demoted. After she ran out of the bell tower like that she wouldn’t be surprised. Heck, she’d even gotten her pen swiped. As much as she trusted Carmen with that pen it was something that dampened her reputation. Risked the whole agency. She dulled slightly, her eyes going glassy as she sat down on the hood of the car. She should probably go back to the warmth of the car, she couldn’t do anything to help if she also froze. But yet she simply couldn’t bring herself to do so. She just-- ugh!

Already she was crying, again. 

God she was useless. Stupid stupid stupid. Really, Devineaux wasn’t far off from the truth when he constantly told her to shut up about all those little useless trivia bits. She was but a little girl in a cruel world. The only real thing she’d thought that she’d be doing was simply stopping crime, helping her partner, the normal things. But ending up as an ACME agent? That wasn’t at all expected.

Well, hopefully he would actually help her with Carmen. But she couldn’t be certain, ‘ _ La femme rogue _ !’ He’d always cry out. Always ready to jump out of his seat, guns blazing. But deep down Julia knew, or well, hoped that Chase was just doing that to prove himself. But did his vengeance really run this deep? She dearly hoped not. If it did, she really didn’t know what she would do if he refused to help her. He already promised though, and he was a man of his word. She truly wished she knew what he would say already. It would make waiting so much less awful. Too much time to dwell on things she couldn’t control. 

She knew deep down that she was being unreasonable, but the thoughts refused to stop. Julia truly hated being alone, but she supposed she should be used to it by now. Ruefully, she stood up, was this the reason why she had latched onto Carmen? Thought of her as a friend? Just because she had noticed her? That day on the train was just something wonderful. If not highly confusing. Thinking about it made her chest clench, that day she was able to freely talk. Something about Carmen’s smile as she rambled on about history, everything about her just put her at ease. Even when she didn’t know who she was at the time being, but even then she still knew she was being truly listened to. Not overshadowed by her partner. Or anyone else for that matter. It felt good. It really did. 

To say that she was lonely would be accurate, yet she was surrounded by people. And that, was the irony of it all. 

So wrapped up in thought she didn’t even hear the other car pull up next to her, let alone see the shine from the headlights. She didn’t even notice her partner until his gentle hand grabbed her shoulder. She flinched away, eyes darting to the culprit. 

“Miss Argent-- I uh, Julia?” He paused, frowning slightly as he looked at Julia. The man took a delicate step towards her, raising his palms in a placating manner. He was careful to not make any sudden movements Julia noted absentmindedly. The idea that Chase Devineaux was making careful movements, was so laughable that Julia had to pause to think if this was even the same person. She didn’t reply for a good second, and it seemed Chase had caught on to the mood, backtracking slightly. “I- ah, are- are you okay?” The poor man seemed to be completely dumbfounded.

Julia looked down, partially to distance herself from her partner, and because she hadn’t the slightest idea on how to respond to his question. She wiped her nose, “I’ll be fine,” she replied curtly, deciding to save this discussion for later. Chase seemed to frown, clearly he had something to say to that but there were more important matters to deal with. Like Carmen. Right, he was here, so now she just needed to see if he would even help. He said that he trusted her right? Well, this wasn’t the way she had hoped she would explain her sort of reluctant friendship with the superthief, but now she didn’t really have a choice did she? 

She took a deep breath, chewing on her lip slightly, “I need your help.”

Chase snorted, “Yes, yes Miss Argent, I understand that. But it appears you seem to need help as well. You are shivering? Have you sat here in the cold this whole time?” There was some vague concern written on his face, but Julia could care less about his concern about her at the moment. 

“It’s Carmen, Carmen needs help Chase. I can’t do it on my own,” she vaguely explained. Chase exhaled sharply, running his hand through his hair. 

“Is she down there?” He asked.

Julia tilted her head, finally looking up at her former partner, he really accepted it like that? The shock must have been pretty evident on her face because Chase turned around, “We will talk about it later Miss Argent. Do not worry.”

She nodded, before speaking up, “Yes.Yes Carmen’s down there. She’s hurt and likely suffering from hypothermia. She’s been down there for god knows how long now. I can get down there without help, but certainly not alone can I get her back up safely. She’s likely severely injured. But I don’t know how severe it is.”

Chase frowned, “I think I saw a trail a little ways back that leads down to the bottom of the cliff. We could use that and then carry her into the car, and drive her to the hospital.” Julia carefully processed that information, if Chase was correct, then they would effectively be able to get Carmen the help she needed. But in the meantime what could they do? Chase glanced at Julia again, “I also brought blankets, they are in the car. There is an emergency blanket in there as well. That should be enough to stave off the cold no?”

To say Julia was surprised at how well Chase thought everything out was an understatement. Truly she was grateful. “Chase I--”

“No. No need to thank me, now I shall drive down since you clearly are not up to that task for now. You stay here. I will leave the blankets with you,” he paused for a second, “Is it in any way possible for you to get down there to deliver the blankets?”

Julia hummed slightly, if she was careful she could slide down the snow and land safely. But if she lost footing she could hurt herself. But if she had the chance to help Carmen sooner than that would be of great benefit. She nodded to Chase, resolve firming. “Yes. It is. I just need to be careful.”

Chase smirked, there was the stubborn agent she knew. “Then I’ll be off. Stay safe, okay?”

“Okay,” Julia responded.

Chase quickly hopped into Julia’s vehicle, and as he left, Julia opened his admittedly, less fancy car to grab the blankets. She took a deep breath, before grabbing the two blankets Chase had packed, along with the trauma kit provided in every standard ACME issued vehicle. She luckily had been trained a few weeks prior to be able to use a trauma kit, and with her decent knowledge of medicine hopefully she could help Carmen. If only she’d thought of grabbing the kit from her own vehicle. Really, she prided herself on her knowledge on things and yet she completely overlooked such an obvious thing. She shook her head,  _ Focus Julia.  _

With the kit in hand, along with the extra blankets, she began to carefully skid down the cliff side. Luckily it was pretty thickly covered in snow, and so it made it pretty simple to get down to the bottom. It also helped that it was pretty sloped. Julia made it to the bottom without a hitch. She ran towards Carmen as fast as she could without slipping. 

When she looked down at the other woman she froze. She was even worse looking than she had thought. There was a small trail of blood leading from what Julia assumed to be the initial crash site, and where Carmen had seemingly passed out. Julia carefully crept over to her, lightly tapping her shoulder. She was covered in what seemed to be the remains of her glider, and Julia shuddered, that can’t have been any warmer than just not using it. Carefully she began to drape the first blanket over Carmen, and as she did, the thief stirred just enough to talk to Julia.

“Agent Argent,” she spat, trembling violently, but not moving away from her. 

And with that single statement, Julia’s heart broke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I really can’t believe how much support this has gotten already! I have loved writing this so much so far, so stay tuned for chapter three! (I promise there will be fluff eventually I swear!)


	3. Numb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _When you went away,  
>  Thought I'd never be the same  
> Would the nightmare ever end?  
> If I could do it again I wouldn't change a thing 'cause it's made me who I am  
> And now I'm shattering  
> Can you save me now?  
> Gravity, Against the Current_

Carmen couldn’t explain why seeing Julia made her so angry, but it did. Out of all the people to find her in such a predicament it _had_ to be her. But yet she knew she was being completely unreasonable. It wasn’t Julia’s fault that this had happened. Like the agent had said herself, ‘It’s not what it looks like!’ But yet she couldn’t help the complete feeling of betrayal that had led up to this moment.

The look of pure distress on Julia’s face just made Carmen want to eat her words though. The poor woman looked to be on the verge of tears. When Carmen failed to elaborate, Julia tried to speak, opening her mouth helplessly. Carmen refused to look at Julia, instead staring at the wreckage of the glider in front of her, pointedly not looking at the other woman.

“Please, Carmen I- I need to help you, you’re hurt, a-and I--”

“S-stop! J-ust stop t-talking,” Carmen’s voice wavered. Julia stepped back slightly, dropping the rest of the emergency blanket on the ground. Carmen didn’t need to look at Julia’s face to know the impact her words had on her. Carmen coughed violently for a second, glaring at the small smatters of blood that it produced. Julia softly gasped, glancing at the blood on Carmen’s face. She met the woman’s eyes, and boy did she hate the look of pity she was met with. “You’re hurt,” Julia stated simply.

Carmen laughed, a horrible wheezing sound. “N-no kidding.” She tried to shift slightly, she couldn’t stand the look on Julia’s face. Her arm gave out as she moved though, and she collapsed down to the ground. Julia rushed over to her side, “Hey, hey Carmen stop. Stop moving. You’re gonna hurt yourself more,” she tried to explain.

Carmen growled slightly, “No. I need- I need to go. I--”

Julia pressed down on Carmen’s exposed hand. “No. You need to stop moving,” She stated firmly. Carmen blinked in surprise, her body stiffened slightly. She narrowed her eyes at Julia, but reluctantly stopped. Julia shook her head, “My old partner is on his way. We’re gonna get you help Carmen.”

Carmen gave a breathy sigh, “F-fine then.” She pressed her lips together, forming a tight line. She hurt. A lot, and Julia was right. _When was she not?_ She needed help or she would die down here. Completely numb at this point, she glanced up at Julia, “Help m-me.”

And with that, she collapsed into Julia.  
  


* * *

Julia hadn’t the slightest idea on how to deal with Carmen. How was she supposed to do anything with her on top of her? Good grief she just hoped Chase was almost to them already. Julia wiggled slightly, trying to shift Carmen’s dead weight off of her. Quickly she checked Carmen’s pulse, it was steady and that’s all that mattered. She carefully removed herself from the tangle of limbs that was Carmen, and took a deep breath. Alright. So based on how Carmen was breathing she must’ve broken some form of her ribs. Or it was simply the blunt force that had caused her to hack up blood. She was by no means a doctor though. She groaned slightly. She couldn’t rule anything out without an x-ray. At least Carmen wasn’t so violently shaking. The blanket had seemed to help. She wasn’t nearly as frozen to touch. But she still needed immediate attention. Chase needed to hurry up. With his horrendous driving habits she’d expected him to have already arrived.

Yet he hadn’t. Odd.

She didn’t want to worry herself over nothing, so she supposed that she should just wait it out. Chase would be fine. He always was. Right, and there he was. She could see the headlights from over here. She smiled. Carmen would be getting the help she needed. That simply felt like the biggest relief in the world. But as the car approached she frowned. That wasn’t Chase at all. This was… Carmen’s crew?

_But, if this is them, where’s Chase?_ She wondered.

The car didn’t seem to slow down, so in a slight panic, Julia waved her arms, flailing slightly. The car skid to a halt, and two people hopped out. The twins. She’d met them before, back in Milan. She squinted, her glasses were quite a mess from all this snow. It made it hard to look serious when she could barely see.

“Oi! They’re over here!” The taller one called out. The other sibling turned around, grinning, face clear with relief. That made two of them. But that still didn’t explain where Chase was. Until, a less than thrilled inspector rolled out of the vehicle. Julia shook her head, she didn’t even want to know how this had happened. Her eyes widened. If Chase was in this car then where the hell was hers? Chief was going to kill her if she didn’t fire her first. 

Ivy had run towards her, gesturing for the other two men to follow. “So, not the best way to meet up again eh?” The woman shrugged apologetically. Julia rolled her eyes, “No kidding. Alright so we’re going to need to be very careful moving her. I’m assuming she’s seriously damaged her ribs. We’re going to need to make sure she’s stabilized while we move her. So uh, Chase? And,” she paused, “Zack is it? I’m going to need you both to take her legs and lower body while Ivy and I take care of her front. Is that okay?” She asked.

All three of them nodded, and with little hesitation, the group moved Carmen into the vehicle. Much to Julia’s amusement, it was Zack who was driving, with Chase pouting in the far backseat. Zack glanced back at Julia while the car moved, “Is she gonna be okay?”

It was Ivy who responded albeit with some hesitation, “Of course she is!”

And Julia agreed, because she didn’t know what she would do if Carmen wasn’t. The thought alone terrified her more than anything VILE could ever do to her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late chapter! I’d gotten my wisdom teeth out and so writing it was a bit of a mess. The next chapter should be back on track though! :D


	4. Chill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Weep not for roads untraveled  
>  Weep not for sights unseen  
> May your love never end  
> And if you need a friend,  
> There's a seat here alongside me  
> Roads Untraveled, Linkin Park_

The trip to the hospital was a fairly quiet endeavor. Even Zack stayed mostly silent for the whole ride. It was pretty offputting. The last time they were all together it was in a caper and even then Zack was still pretty chatty. After they’d taken the dresses out and gotten them to safety he wouldn’t stop talking. But yet here the four of them sat in a chilling silence. They pulled up to the hospital, and none of them said a word as the nurses rushed out with a gurney. Julia looked at the group with hesitation, she really shouldn’t go with them. But she did know more about the extent of Carmen’s injuries than the rest of the group. But if Carmen saw her again, she doubted that she’d be thrilled to see her. It really would be best of her to leave--

“Julia! C’mon. They’re bringing her inside. Let’s go,” Ivy piped up. Julia opened her mouth to argue against that, but the twin quickly grabbed Julia’s shoulder, leaving no time for Julia to even reply.

Quickly ushered by Ivy, they helped to rush Carmen inside the building. A nurse glanced over to them, “What happened to her?” The group all seemed to look at Julia, who froze slightly before responding as calmly as she could. “She’s been out in the cold for an estimated two or more hours. I also found her to have some trouble breathing, she’s fallen from a significant height and based on this I think she’ll need to be treated for possible broken bones.” The nurse nodded understandingly, before quickly reporting through her phone to relay the information to the awaiting team of doctors.

Chase seemed to be surprised by her evident knowledge of medicine. Really it wasn’t that hard to figure this out based on Carmen’s appearance alone. It’s just Julia had seen the whole situation. He was a former ACME agent, so really he should know basic medical information. It was provided in the handbook afterall. Though she highly doubted Chase had read it. 

Soon they approached the emergency room, and the nurses had taken over moving Carmen. They instructed the group to sit in the nearby waiting area while they worked on Carmen. Julia could barely stop herself from pacing, and Chase must’ve noticed because he silently handed her a file. She gave him a shaky smile, silently thanking the man. As obtuse as he was, he did at least have some form of tact. She carefully opened the file, and she found it to be Carmen’s current medical records from today. How he’d managed to get this, she had no idea. She suspected it had something to do with Zack and Ivy, and that mysterious Player she’d only heard of by mention. She skimmed the information on the file, and frowned. Most of the stuff listed was also seemingly from old injuries. Interesting. She’d need to think about what might have caused some of these. Surely they couldn’t have been all caused by this altercation. Well, at least from what the file stated, Carmen was currently stable, and awaiting surgery to reset a few broken bones. That was more of a relief than Julia could imagine. Just knowing that Carmen would recover was probably the most comforting thing she’d heard for a long time. She was simply wondering why the nurses hadn’t reported this to them yet, but right as she tried to think of a good reason that they hadn’t talked to them yet, she was gently tapped on the shoulder by a nurse a few seconds later. Nearly dropping the file she glanced up at the nurse, who began to speak.

“Hello, sorry to startle you miss, but my name’s Lindsey. I’m the current nurse attending to your friend here, and we just got word that she’s headed into surgery to fix up and set some of her bones. She’s in good hands, and I just wanted to give you a heads up. Normally we’d have waited but due to her condition it was best to do so immediately. We don’t have any forms on hand with her information so we need that in order to sort out her legal work. Do any of you guys have her information somewhere?” She asked politely but quickly, cutting to the chase immediately.

Zack and Ivy glanced to one another, whispering furiously. Ivy quickly nodded, and pulled out a phone. Likely a burner, she suspected. Probably has some fabricated information on it, but that wasn’t too important, all that mattered was that it worked. And, it did work. Lindsey smiled gratefully, and deftly wrote down all the needed information. “Thank you. I actually have her room set up if you’d like to follow me. She’s in there right now for the moment while some last minute things are set up in the operating room. But by the time we get over there she’ll likely be in surgery,” Lindsey added.

Julia nodded, although it was pretty hesitant. But to the insistence of the twins she dragged herself from her chair and followed the nurse, the twins and Chase not far behind. Soon the group was led to a small but quaint room. It was neatly decorated, and for a hospital room it certainly wasn’t bad. Chase looked around the room before sighing. “I think it’s best I go now. I’ve done more than enough for one day. You were quite lucky I was on vacation nearby Miss I uh,” he coughed, “Agent Argent.” 

More or less she was lucky she’d recently checked up on him. He’d somehow recently snagged a new job, working as a private investigator. He’d actually been doing pretty good as of late, and she felt bad that she’d ruined his little time off. Though she still suspected he wasn’t here for a true vacation. Truly she was surprised he was even remotely in the area. She really did luck out. “Alright then. Stay safe Chase, alright? And,” she paused thoughtfully, “Thank you.” 

Now that she thought about it, she also missed out on that ‘talk’ Chase said they would have. Boy was she grateful for that. She already had so many people to explain herself to that it made it easier. She didn’t really blame Chase for forgetting, this mess really had gotten out of hand. Even though it was a pretty important conversation really. But that train of thought was quickly dismantled as Chase replied rather nonchalantly in French, that, “ _ Yes we are still having that conversation. But only after she, _ ” he waved his hands towards the empty space awaiting Carmen’s eventual return after her surgery, “ _ is back to health _ .” Julia couldn’t stop the small groan that escaped her lips at that. Damn, she thought she’d gotten away with that. Ivy didn’t seem to bat an eye at the two, but as Chase left the room Zack spoke up. 

“So what was that about?” He tilted his head. Ivy punched his shoulder, rolling her eyes at him.

“Oi! You don’t just ask about that. Clearly it was something important and you shouldn’t be nosy about it.” She exclaimed.

Julia shook her head, “No no! It’s okay. He was just telling me how he still expected an explanation for everything later.” She paused, “It’s nothing serious. I just have to explain everything that happened. Honestly I’m surprised he came to help. And wait, how in the world did you get him into your car willingly?” 

Ivy and Zack spoke at the same time.

“We shoved em’ in the car and explained on the way, boy was he angry!” Zack chuckled.

“Why would you need to explain what happened to Chase? Isn’t he an ACME agent as well?” Ivy asked.

Julia paused for a solid minute trying to fully process what the twins had both said. First off, she was impressed at the fact they had managed to get Chase in the car, even if it was unwillingly. That took some serious skill, or straight up some wild amount of brunt force. The second question was a little harder to understand at first. Yes, he was an ACME agent, formerly. But well, they didn’t know he was fired-- _er_ _well_ ‘put on permanent leave.’ Could she really trust these two? Probably, based on the fact that Carmen obviously did. But revealing that information was Chase’s choice and not hers. Honestly, since he’d gotten a new job, out from Interpol, he’d been a much more decent human being. Although he still was the very trigger happy detective she knew. Only a little bit less chaotic. Well, she supposed having your life turned upside down would make a person change. Luckily this was for the better.

“Well, I uh, that’s a long story, and it’s Chase’s decision to tell it. Not mine,” she finally replied. Zack made a sound of disappointment but didn’t argue. Ivy frowned, clearly wanting to say something more but she didn’t make a noise. Julia frowned apologetically, “Sorry you two. I’d tell you if it wasn’t about something important to Chase.”

“Aw it’s alright--” Zack began to speak before the door to Carmen’s room opened again. Oh, it was that nurse from before. Lindsey was it? The nurse looked down at the group, before another person entered the room behind her, a taller man who looked to be thoroughly exhausted. 

Julia guessed that he was Carmen’s surgeon. He began to speak, occasionally glancing at the clipboard in his hand, “Alright so we have some good news! Surgery went well. She had a pretty complicated fracture in her leg, but that’s all sorted out now. She’s completely stable and doing wonderfully. You three are lucky you got her in when you did. It was quite the experience getting her stable originally,” the man paused, “I completely forgot, the name is Mr. Stevenson. Sorry, it’s been a long night. But I am confident in saying your friend here is going to be alright.” Stevenson seemed to be quite the polite man, and Julia was happy to know that Carmen was in good hands. “Thank you so much. We can’t thank you all enough,” Julia smiled. The surgeon smiled back, before turning around, “We’ll be moving her back in here shortly so don’t be too surprised. Then he left the room.

After Stevenson left Julia checked her phone, no wonder Mr. Stevenson was so exhausted. It was nearly three in the morning. Hesitant to overextend her stay, Julia began to walk out, planning to leave, before Ivy grabbed her shoulder for the second time that night. “Julia? Where are you going?” She asked.

Julia didn’t know how to respond, like ‘Oh I’m leaving because Carmen is angry with me and I’m the reason this had even happened?’ Well that obviously wouldn’t do, so she simply shrugged, “Oh, I’m going to go use the restroom. It’s been a long day,” She gave a small smile, hoping to convince Ivy that everything was fine. It clearly worked because she was able to freely walk out of the room with no further questions.

When she finally made it to the bathroom, after she entered a stall and shut the door, she was gripped with panic. What would she do when Carmen woke up? What would Ivy and Zack say when they learned about the real reason Carmen was in the hospital in the first place? Julia let out a choked gasp, as she struggled to remain calm. She knew she was being completely ridiculous but did that make her feel better? No absolutely not. She needed to calm herself down, but that was so much easier said than done. She was interrupted by a loud creak as the main door to the bathroom opened. “Julia? Are ya in here? It’s been an hour, Zack and I are worried about you.”

Julia held her breath, before breaking down, crying. “I- I can’t stay here. Ivy, I’m the last person Carmen needs to see after what I caused. I shouldn’t be here. I should just go.” 

Ivy knocked on the stall door Julia was in, “Hey, hey. C’mon Julia, open the door. Please?” 

Julia reluctantly opened the door, and was immediately greeted with an aggressive hug. Julia simply stood there, stock still. Ivy then released her from her grip and looked her dead in the eye, “Now, what in the world is upsetting you? Carmen could never hate you, even if she tried. Literally, though.”

Julia began to protest, “No. But she definitely does after today.” Her voice was dull and muffled. Ivy shook her head, “Julia I’m serious. If it’s really bad just talk to her when she wakes up, that guy and the nurse rolled her into the room just when you left. Now I’m sure you’ll sort it out! Now c’mon! Zack fell asleep in a hilarious position and I need to show you it, I already took pictures for later blackmail, but it’s so much better in person.”

Julia wiped at her face, maybe Ivy was right. She could just explain to Carmen what happened. It would turn out fine. At least she hoped so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I absolutely love this chapter and like yeah that’s it hahahahaha. It turned out to be longer than expected but I think it still turned out great!


	5. Shatter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Friends round the fire  
>  Outside in December  
> Open the sky for me now  
> Oh I'm like a kid who just won't let it go  
> Rubik’s Cube, Athlete_

(Warning: There’s some strong language in this chapter.)

Ivy was completely right. Zack had fallen asleep in such a ridiculous position that she honestly had no idea how the man had fallen asleep. He’d managed to stick himself between all three of the chairs that had been set up. His limbs were awkwardly stretched between the arms of the chairs and boy, was it a sight. Julia couldn’t stop the laugh that came from her mouth. Soon Ivy had joined in and much to the confusion of the now awake Zack, they stood and laughed at the predicament he’d gotten himself in. “Oi! Wait! Help me! I’m stuck!”

Ivy simply stuck her tongue out at her brother, as you do when your sibling has done something stupid. Julia couldn’t help but shake her head as she helped Zack out from his chair prison. He muttered a quick thanks and then stood up, yawning. “Aight, now what time is it?” Julia paused, looking back at her phone. Her eyes widened, it was nearly four thirty at this point. She turned her phone screen towards him, he whistled. “Damn. Guess it’s pretty late after all.”

Ivy nodded, “Yeah. I’d say it’s best that we get off to bed now. It’s gonna be one hell of a morning I think.” Julia could attest to that, waking up was gonna be horrible. She smiled slightly, “Well then. It’s probably best that we head to sleep now huh? Ms. Sandiego wouldn’t want us to stay up all night.”

Julia didn’t notice the odd look that Ivy had given her when she’d stopped talking, and simply sat down on her own chair. She smiled and gestured for Ivy to come sit down as well. Hopefully the two would fall asleep soon. Julia had other ideas, because she knew there was basically no way that she would be able to fall asleep. Ivy’s words from earlier had comforted her greatly, but she still knew that deep down she most certainly would not be able to sleep due to the whole mess of it all. Julia knew herself better than to hope that she would be able to fall asleep normally. She had a hunch that she’d probably end up passing out from sheer exhaustion sooner than she’d be able to fall asleep like normal. Usually she had a pretty good sleep schedule, despite constantly travelling. But tonight well, that was not happening. 

She yawned slightly, looking back at the twins. Zack had already passed out again, which Julia couldn’t blame him. It was super late, and Ivy and her had woken him up, though it wasn’t like they had a complete choice there. If he would've stayed like that all night, and woken up in the morning, she could not imagine how awful he’d feel. There was no way that would be pleasant on his body had he stayed like that, besides, they also needed the chairs too. Ivy had shut her eyes, and Julia guessed that she’d be asleep within the next hour or so. Likely sooner, afterall the average time it takes for someone to fall asleep is only around fifteen minutes. So Julia just had to kill the time in between. She glanced at Ivy, and carefully pulled out her phone and began to text Chase. 

_Julia: Hey, I know it’s late, but I just wanted to say thank you. Also, Ms. Sandiego is out of surgery. She’s doing good according to the doctors. Sent 4:42 am._

She set her phone down for a second, before it vibrated softly. That was surprising. She’d expected him to not respond until morning. 

_Chase: You’re welcome Julia. Now please, you should be asleep. Sent 4:44 am._

She shook her head smiling, quickly typing out another response.

_Julia: So should you, in fact I’m surprised you are not asleep. Sent 4:45 am._

_Chase: Fair enough. Goodnight then Julia. Sent 4:45 am._

_Julia: Goodnight. Sent 4:46 am. Received from Chase at 4:46 am._

Julia sighed and set her phone down again. She was exhausted, but at least she’d informed Chase about the latest news on Carmen. She glanced at Ivy, and then at Zack. They both seemed to be completely asleep. She stood up from her chair, careful not to bump the two siblings, and walked towards the bed where Carmen slept. Gently she leaned against the bed. She watched as Carmen slept, completely peaceful. She then looked to all of the various bandages wrapped around her body, peeking out from the many blankets she was under, and shook her head. As afraid as she was that Carmen would never trust her again, she knew that it wasn’t all her fault, not entirely. Her talk with Ivy helped, even if Ivy had no idea what had truly happened, her words made sense. She could sort things out with Carmen when she was feeling better. Yeah, that would be perfect. In the morning she could talk to her. It would all be okay. She smiled before picking herself back from the edge of the bed Carmen was on, and sat down on her chair. Quickly, she fell asleep. Only to be instantly woken up by an alarm coming from Ivy’s phone. She jolted from her seat and looked at Ivy in slight horror, Ivy had stirred slightly, enough to glance at Julia, clear amusement in her eyes.

“You sleep well there Julia? You look like you’ve seen a ghost there bud,” she laughed. She quickly straightened herself out and hit stop on the alarm. Julia gave her a halfhearted glare.

“I just didn’t get much sleep I guess. I certainly wasn’t expecting you to have set an alarm!” She smiled, trying to hide a wince. She really did get no sleep. Well, that wasn’t surprising. She’d expected it but yet it still didn’t make it feel better. Had she really stayed awake the whole night? Geez, at this rate she was going to become Chase.

“Well, if I didn’t set an alarm we’d never get up. And, in fact, Zack! Wake up you sleepyhead!” Julia watched as she jostled her brother awake. He promptly fell off his chair, and gave his sister a hefty glare. 

“Hey! Excuse me! You didn’t have to do that Ivy!” He groaned.

Julia laughed, shaking her head, “You two are insane. I truly don’t understand how you bunch haven’t done something seriously stupid yet.”

Zack seemed to think for a moment, “You see, I would disagree with that. Yo, Ivy do you remember the time that y--” Ivy slapped a hand over his mouth. “Shhhhh, now we aren’t going to talk about that. Julia will find out about that,” she coughed, “Incident later.”

Julia raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Well, she would definitely ask about that some other time. She grinned, before turning around, eyes widening when she saw who was staring back at her. It was Carmen, she was awake, and she looked extremely angry. Julia took a step back, maybe angry didn’t cut it, she was seething. Zack and Ivy glanced at Carmen, and then Julia, unsure of how to react. Ivy nudged her brother, grabbing his hand, guiding him out of the room. Julia almost asked them to stay, but this was her and Carmen’s mess to sort out. As soon as the door shut, leaving Julia alone, Carmen exploded.

“Why in the everloving fuck, are you still here? Haven’t you done enough?” 

Julia took another step back, trying not to flinch. “I- I wanted to make sure you were okay.” She held her hands to her chest, curling into herself. 

“You wanted to make sure I was okay?” She laughed, still wheezy from the strain on her broken ribs. “Well, I’m fine, so you can go tell that Chief of yours that I’m not dead. That’s all you wanted huh? To know that I didn’t die from your own team?” She scoffed, turning her head away from Julia. 

“N-no! It was never like that. It was an accident! A misunderstanding!” Julia tried to desperately explain. Carmen looked back at Julia with an unreadable expression.

“One that almost killed me,” she muttered, “Now go, I don’t want to see you here or with my team again.” 

Julia tried to stop the quiet sobs from escaping her mouth but she couldn’t, she walked towards the door and left.

After Julia left, Carmen was completely alone in her room, finally allowing herself to cry as well. She gasped heavy sobs, tears flowing down her face, why had she said those cruel things? She knew that Julia would never try and hurt her but she was just so hurt. She’d had no right to say those things, and yet she did. Julia would hate her, and this time, she had nobody to blame but herself. 

When Zack and Ivy returned to her room they had a stone cold expression on their face, refusing to speak to Carmen, and she couldn’t blame them for it. Carmen, despite having people all around her, felt more alone in that moment than she’d ever felt in her life. Even more alone than during that fateful year at VILE Island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops?


End file.
